A few things work in our favor however: 1) that redistricting also made the Republican's districts safe ones. Since budgets require 2/3 passage and the Democrats need gobs of money to implement their schemes, the Republicans are in a good position to get in the way. 2) The Democrats passed a form of campaign finance reform that favors grassroots efforts, and the Republicans are much better at collecting money that way. 3) Even the supposedly 'safe' districts they've constructed for themselves can be breached. Witness the victory of Republican Shirley Horton over Davis' hand-picked guy, Vince Hall. 4) The state isn't necessarily as solidly liberal as people think. The Defense of Marriage act, to cite a recent example, passed handily. I'm betting Ward Connerly's Racial Privacy Initiative will too. California isn't a lost cause.
That's exaclty the point of my tirade. This state isn't fudamentally liberal. It's fundamentally moderate to conservative.
The perception of California's condition is, for the greater part, established by the nature of it's governance. At the heart of that governance is the legislature and recent development in legislative redistricting has created the dicotomy.
My point is in support of your thesis that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Honest reason is not going to strip these ideologues of their power. The consequences of their actions is going to resolve the issue. The collapse of the California economy and the forced and sudden withdrawal of the government tit is going to force those who are ever so slightly up the chain of havenots to recognize that their "less fortunate" brethren are dragging them down.
More specifically they will realize that their uncles and cousins, who have yet to arrive at California's golden door, will be the straw that shatters their dreams.